Nadellia the Dragon Knight
by Suni Daughter of Moro
Summary: When Rath was growing up, his best friend was an elder Dragon Knight. She was the Dragon Knight of Shadow. This is their story of accepting each other's flaws. (Will alter series' events greatly over time but not enough to change the main plot)
1. Default Chapter

Nadellia, The Dragon Knight

Chapter One

            Hello.  My name is Nadellia.  I am a Dragon Knight.  Yes, I'm a female knight.  Quiet a few people have problems with that…

            Anyway, I am the Dragon Knight of the shadow.  I call my dragon Kage.  It sounds a bit better than Shadow, doesn't it?  Kage's the only female dragon we know of, so she's very important to the legacy of the Dragon Knights.  If she dies, new dragons cannot be bred.  The knights could no longer exist once the dragons died off.  As you can see, her importance is quiet clear.

            Now, I should explain a bit about our current situation.  We only have one Dragon Knight other than me, currently… or at least one other official Knight.  We have an elf named Rune off attempting to prove himself worthy of the water dragon and a thief named Thatz who we believe might succeed in freeing the earth dragon.  Still, officially we only have two Knights. 

            "Nade!  Nade-chan!" Rath jumps onto the sofa beside me.  I look at him and he looks right back with a smile.  It makes me wonder how so many people can see past my freakish face.  You see, I am a quarter elf, a quarter demon, and half golem.  My face gets its basic features from my elf side - a small, slightly pointed nose, an almost perfect frame of the face, wide and expressive icy blue eyes, the thin lips, and who could forget the pointy ears?  My demonic features were subtle.  The most obvious signs were my enlarged canines and the barely noticeable blue tinge to my skin.  The golem part was fairly obvious, however, from the silver hair and clumps of rock coating my skin.  "Hi Nade-chan!  How are you?"

            "I'm perfectly fine," I smile down at him lovingly.  They say he'll grow up soon but I hope they're wrong.  He's a very sweet child and I'm not entirely certain he'll remain that way in adulthood.  "How are you today, Rath-chan?"

            "I'm good," he nods sharply.  "Me, Fire, and Crewger are gonna go out and hunt demons.  Coming with us, Nadellia?"

            "You're not going out again," I object.  "We've already gone demon hunting five times this month."

            "So?  We usually go at least ten times a month," Rath whines.

            "Rath-chan, it's only the sixth," I chuckle.  
            "But Nade, I wanna go," Rath continues to moan.

            "No demon-hunting at least until next week, okay Ra--"

            "Nade-chan!  There's a demon behind you!  Watch out!" Rath takes out his sword and attempts to attack.  I block the attack myself with my armored forearm.

            "You should learn to think before you attack, Rath-chan," I giggle in amusement.  "If I'm sitting in his lap, is he a threat?"

            "He's a demon!  Of course he is!  C'mon let me get 'im!  I wanna fight the demon!" Rath cries.

            "Now, now, Rath.  You're not fighting this one.  Rath this is Drache; Drache this is Rath," I introduce the two.

            "Hello," Drache smiles nervously down at the high-spirited boy.

            "Hello.  Why won't Nadellia let me hunt you?" Rath asks him flatly.

            "Rath-chan, you're not to tell anyone about Drache, you understand?" I ask.

            "Okay, but who is he and why can't I fight him, Nade?" Rath blinks.

            "Drache has been a trusted friend of mine for a few years now.  We're now secretly engaged.  That's why you can't fight him."

            "Ew!  You _love_ him!?!" Rath shouts.

            "Yes of course," I lean back against Drache's chest.  "Why else would I agree to marry him?"

            "GROSS!" Rath sticks his tongue out.

            "Come here you little goof-ball," I grab Rath by the collar and pull him into my arms. I laugh as I teasingly put him in a head-lock and ruffle his hair.  
            "NADELLIAA!!!" Rath pouts. "Lemme go!"  
            "I dunno... What do you think Drache?" I ask him. "Shall I let him go or shall we torture him? Should we tickle his feet, stomach, and nose? Or what about gluing feathers to his face?"  
            "Let the kid go," Drache insists.  
            "Aw but don't you wanna see a Dragon Knight laugh his head off?"  
            "I'd rather see this Dragon Knight laugh," Drache smirks as he slides his arms around my stomach and begins to tickle me.  
            "Drache!! Please... STOP!" I whine in the midst of my hysterical laughter. "Come on!"  
            "Not until you let Rath go," Drache nods, kissing my cheek.  
            "Come on Nadellia!!! Lemme go!" Rath tries to pull loose.  
            "Okay... okay... fine!" I shout in between my laughs and then release the young Dragon Knight.  
            "Thanks Drache," Rath smiles at him. "You're not bad... for a demon."  
            "You're welcome Rath," Drache returns the courtesy.  
            "You're mean," I glare at Drache. "I was just trying to have some fun."  
            "Aw, don't be like that, Nade-koi," Drache runs kisses up and down my neck.  
            "EWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!"  
            "Rath, you had best run before I catch you again and tickle you til you cry," I let out an evil laugh.  
            "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Rath runs away at top speed.  
            "Expecting any other visitors?" Drache asks.  
            "Nope. Rath's really the only person who comes into my room," I state. "At least the only one who comes in without knocking first."

            "Are you sure about that?" he asks, pointing to the moving doorknob.

            "Dammit! Um… go hide in my closet!  Quickly!" I jump up and run to the door.  I force the door to remain shut.

            "Nadellia, your door won't open.  Is it stuck?" Ruwalk calls from the other side.

            "No, I'm holding it shut!"

            "Um… why?"

            I pause.  "Because I… I'm not decent!  Shame on you, Ruwalk!  You should know better than to walk into a lady's bedroom without knocking!"

            "Well… I'm sorry Nadellia but I thought I just saw Rath leave your room so I figured it was safe."

            "You figured wrong!  It so happens I decided to change out of my pajamas when Rath left," I fling the door open now that Drache is safely hidden in the walk-in closet.

            Ruwalk steps in and looks around for a bit.  I sit down on the sofa and try to act normal but apparently don't pass for it because he gives me a querying look, "What is it?"

            "What is what?" I ask.

            "Whatever you look guilty for," he leans forward, staring into my eyes from a distance of five inches.  I hate when he does that so I quickly think of a response that will annoy him greatly.

            "I had a premonition last night," I brush silver hair over my shoulder and the solitary red and blue locks fall forward again.  "It had better not come true."

            "Did demons attack the castle?" Ruwalk inquires, it being the first thing to enter his mind and all.

            "No, worse," I say in a serious voice that could send chills up just about anyone's spine.

            "Worse?"

            "I walked in on you while you were in the bath.  Adding to the dilemma, you were sitting there in the bath with Alfeegi in your lap and Kai-stern at your side with his arm draped over your shoulder," I begin to laugh insanely.

            "You sicko!" he yells.

            "Though I must admit," I cease laughing but a smile still curves my lips, "you and Alfeegi would look good together."

            "I'M NOT GAY AND NEITHER IS ALFEEGI!" Ruwalk screeches at maximum volume.  Then he pauses awkwardly for a moment.  "I hope."

            "Ha ha ha ha, oh Ruwalk-san, if you could only see your face right now.  It's just so cute!  Alfeegi would love it!" I continue to tease, hoping to avoid the previous subject.

            "Knock it off already," he insists.  He inhales softly, taking in the scent of the room.  "Something smells funny.  I think it's coming from your closet."


	2. Another cliffhanger Bummer, huh?

Nadellia, The Dragon Knight

Chapter Two

"Something smells funny. I think it's coming from your closet," Ruwalk states thoughtfully as he waltzes over to the closet where I had told Drache to hide.

"Um, well, I'm sure it's nothing," I assure him awkwardly.

"I don't know about that. It smells sort of like you and Rath. And, no offense to either of you, but when it smells like you two, I really should investigate," his hand touches to the doorknob and I can already see my entire life shattering to pieces before my very eyes. I have to distract him.

"You know, Rath said he wanted to go demon hunting today and I refused. I think he might go out on his own now."

"Well then let Alfeegi handle it," he lets go of the doorknob as he turns to look at me. "The guy needs his daily minimum of things to bitch about."

"You know, Ruwalk, I don't remember your hair always being bi-colored. Did you dye it?" I ask.

"No, it just grew in," he responds. "Why do you ask?"

"It seems a bit unbelievable that it just grew in. If your hair was turning darker, there would be a gradient up the strands, but there isn't. It just changes. Besides, if it was grown in, it would disappear every time you cut your hair."

"It's not dyed," Ruwalk insists.

"All this resistance leads me to believe I'm onto something," I smile smugly.

"No, of course not. Listen, Nadellia, would you mind coming with me?"

"To where?" I blink.

"The balcony. There's something I want to discuss with you and I figured it was a nice place to sit and talk. I had snacks brought up," he answers.

"Okay then, Ruwalk," I consent and we go to leave. As we reach the door, I turn back toward the closet and ask rather loudly, "Ruwalk, have you ever heard of a book called '_Leave the Castle_'?"

"No… What's with you today, Nade? You're acting very strange."

As I close the door to my room, I can hear my closet door opening and I know Drache got the hint. I safely breathe a sigh of relief as I respond, "Nothing."

Ruwalk leads me up to the balcony and I talk a seat at the table that was brought up for the occasion.

"Let's skip the idle talk and cut to the chase - what is it?" I ask flatly.

"Nade, Alfeegi insists that I get the truth from you… Have you been having visitors lately?" Ruwalk narrows his eyes and I can feel my world teetering on the cliff's edge once again.

"What do you mean? Why do you ask?" I fidget nervously.

"Someone saw an unfamiliar figure leave the palace through your window last night… Care to tell me what was in your closet now?" Ruwalk narrows his eyes. I gulp.


End file.
